The five squads for the 2026 Windmill Whack were finalised on Thursday night in a hectic Draft Night at the Pavilion. Tournament Director Harry Jenkins hosted the evening which saw 100 players picked up for the season, with only the ten captains and vice-captains allocated to their squads ahead of the evening.  Players were divided into four categories with star picks followed by those in the senior section and then youth and junior members. There were a number of steals during the evening, but interestingly no captains could agree a late deal in the final ten minute trading window.  All squads consist of 20 players and all sides will be in action on the competition's opening day, 31st May. Here we take a look at who will be playing where in the Whack this summer:

Govani Maestros - Sponsored by Govani Chemist - 2025, 5th
Having finished bottom last year, the Maestros' captaincy team of Jordan Tolan and Paul Burley were given first pick of the night, and with no steals allowed on the first round of star picks they drafted Ollie Burley who has enjoyed a fine start to the season.  Their other star picks of James Evans and Ollie Peck bring experience, while Kevin McNeela was the first player to be picked in the senior section of the draft. Plenty of character was added with their other senior picks as the likes of Russ Savidge and Adam Overton were picked up, while franchise owner Karim Govani remains a Maestro for another season. Fenton Everingham was a shrewd pick from the Youth pool of players while Patrick Gulvin was one of the most popular choices of the evening. Fin Tolan and Dylan Narbheram add some competition winning know-how from their junior experiences and the Maestros squad looks well balanced as they look to move up the table in 2026:

Jordan Tolan (capt)
Paul Burley (vice capt)
Ollie Burley (*)
James Evans (*)
Ollie Peck (*)
Kevin McNeela
Craig Grote
Russell Savidge
Adam Overton
Karim Govani
Joe Farrell
Thomas Waters
Fenton Everingham
Patrick Gulvin
Cameron Hughes
Joseph Hibell
Finley Tolan
Max Bird
Dylan Narbheram
James Smith-Allen

BrewDog Braves - Sponsored by BrewDog, Upminster - 2025, 4th
Back for their second year leading the Braves, Rob Mack and Alex Ward were keen to secure the services of Callum Berry and dived straight in to get the all-rounder as their first star pick. The Ison brothers, Nick and Alan, followed while Dan Tyler was a shrewd choice at the start of the senior draft. The Braves upset the Maestros by stealing Ben Hamberger as they looked to add a number of all-rounders, while they also stole Ollie Hinton from Jordan Tolan's squad to make sure they had some wicket-keeping experience in the side. The Moore brothers, Stan and Ralph, were also picked up, and with Ethan Berry also added the Braves will have three sets of siblings in their squad for the summer.  The Braves just missed out on a Finals Day place last season and they will be looking to go at least one better this time out:

Rob Mack (capt)
Alex Ward (vice capt)
Callum Berry (*)
Alan Ison (*)
Nicky Ison (*)
Dan Tyler
Kevin Roome
Stewart Hammond
Dan Simpson
Benjamin Hamberger
Matt Burch
Ryan Brown
Ethan Berry
Stanley Moore
Oliver Hinton
Thomas Cargill
Ralph Moore
George Sheridan
Oscar Hayes
George Ashlin

Mullis Monarchs - Sponsored by Mullis & Peake LLP - 2025, 3rd
Father and son captaincy duo Ian and Lewis Munn went big with their stars, landing the much sought after Gus Phlpot first up followed by experienced all-rounder John Curtis and young keeper Ross Taylor. A number of other keeping options were also added in the other sections of the Draft with Paul MIddlemiss their first pick in the seniors section and Nathan Brown and Mit Shah added later on. Whack debutant Matt Mcarthur brings some experience and know-how while an exciting crop of young players were also drafted with the Brooks Brothers, Ollie Clarke, Max Malby, Oscar Sousanna, Aadit Latey and Henry Hanlon looking like a formidable unit. The Monarchs reached Finals Day last year before bowing out in the Eliminator, but if their star players perform this year they could go all the way:

Ian Munn (capt)
Lewis Munn (vice capt)
Gus Philpot (*)
John Curtis (*)
Ross Taylor (*)
Paul Middlemiss
Aalok Latey
Shreyansh Shah
Thomas Brabin
William Frost
Nathan Brown
Matthew Mcarthur
Mit Shah
Joseph Brooks
Ollie Clarke
Henry Hanlon
Aadit Latey
Dylan Brooks
Max Malby
Oscar Sousanna

Griffin Grandmasters - Sponsored by Griffin Group, the Property People - 2025, Runners-Up
James Burchell and Max Carter-Miller were clever in securing the services of Tournament Director Harry Jenkins as their first star pick, meaning any contentious rulings over the season will undoubtedly go their way. Nathan Woods was their other star choice (with Carter-MIller also a star player) while a good seam attack was then put together in the senior section with Harry Bradford, Tom Young and Ryan Oakes all picked up. Will Court was a good steal during the youth section while Ewan Lowrie, Joshan Narbheram and Avanish Ajmani were all clever all round choices during that same part of the Draft. The Grandmasters were runners-up a year ago and this squad will expect to at least match that again in 2026:

James Burchell (capt)
Max Carter-Miller (vice capt *)
Harry Jenkins (*)
Nathan Woods (*)
Harry Bradford
John Morley
Ryan Oakes
Harry Lawes
Matthew Ingleson
Tom Young
Rafiqul Haq
Henry McDonough
Ewan Lowrie
Joshan Narbheram
Avanish Ajmani
Will Court
Charles Allen-Monaghan
Ralph Burchell
Joshua O'Sullivan
Archie Lowe

Kushoom Bugh Tigers - Sponsored by Kushoom Bugh Tandoori Restaurant - 2025, Winners
New vice captain Liam Robertson was absent with work commitments, but skipper Jamie Green was pleased to pick up hard hitting batter Zoran Suneel as his first star choice, and he was joined by Nick O'Dell, a man with vast Whack experience. Also bringing wisdom and experience will be Tony Graves, Green's first pick in the senior draft, Chris Brabin, Sanjay Narbheram, John Oakes and Don Triggs, while big hitting Nathan Dowdall was stolen from the Grandmasters. The Tigers' squad has a very different feel to the one which claimed the title last summer, but with the likes of Alfie Taplin and Anay Narbheram added to the squad late on Green and Robertson will expect their side to be in action at Finals Day in September:

Jamie Green (capt *)
Liam Robertson (vice capt)
Zoran Suneel (*)
Nick O'Dell (*)
Tony Graves
Nathan Dowdall
Chris Brabin
Don Triggs
Sanjay Narbheram
John Oakes
Rob Evans
Aedan Daly
Michael Pedrick
Ollie Dignam
Joseph Warren
Leo Hodgkiss
Alfie Taplin
Anay Narbheram
Ewan McArthur
Aidan Leung